Gran Turismo 5 patched, online mechanical damage activated

Mechanical damage comes to Gran Turismo 5 in the most recent patch. Sadly, it …

Gran Turismo 5 has received an update, the third since its release on November 24th. This patch represents a step by Polyphony Digital towards addressing some of the complaints that players have raised, in this case the lack of mechanical damage.

With the 1.03 update, mechanical damage has now been activated, although only in online play, not Arcade or GT Life mode. This patchwork application of features is not unprecedented; the head-tracking feature, where your PlayStation Eye tracks your head movements and pans the view accordingly, is only available in Arcade and online mode, suggesting that perhaps GT Life is very resource-hungry on the PS3—or maybe just that the game's developers are a little odd.

I took to the track last night to test out the feature, creating a room called "let's try out damage," since the idea of just joining random pubbie races and driving into people is the sort of thing that gets you a bad reputation online. When setting up the online game options, you can choose to have no mechanical damage, light mechanical damage, or heavy mechanical damage. Picking the latter, I bounced off a few other cars, and also tried driving into walls at very high speed.

Damage is shown on the same glyph that indicates tire temperature. A big red blob in the middle of the glyph means you've damaged your engine, smaller red blobs on each corner represent damage to those wheels. Wheel damage has a big effect on steering; you can tell the difference between front and rear axle damage, and engine damage will lower your available revs and speed. Despite repeated headlong collisions, I was still able to move under my own steam; this could be because, like cosmetic damage, it works on a sliding scale, and I'm only at level 18. Collision noises sound a bit better too. I'm sure I heard glass breaking at one point, but looking at the car I drove into the wall showed only a slight bend on one front corner.

Damage is still not as impressive as the options offered on F1 2010 or Forza Motorsport 3, and doing things like shifting down a gear at maximum revs has no effect when it ought to destroy your clutch, gearbox, or engine. Better than nothing though, eh?

Were you trying it out in a rear or mid-engined car? In Forza a head on crash in either of those won't do too much engine damage, though will wreck your steering.

And are you able to pit to repair any damage? (Can you pit at all in GT5?)

My experience in Forza 2 would have me almost ruining any chance of winning with a single head on crash... Although the engine damage from accidentally shifting down when at max revs instead of up was always annoying and shitty. (But I still pressed the button, so my own damn fault)

Were you trying it out in a rear or mid-engined car? In Forza a head on crash in either of those won't do too much engine damage, though will wreck your steering.

And are you able to pit to repair any damage? (Can you pit at all in GT5?)

Pitting fixes things, and yes, reversing into a wall or getting rear ended in a mid-engined car will wreck your engine.

After spending more time with GT5 I am warming to it more, mainly because I saved up the credits to buy a McLaren F1, which has proven to be every bit as much fun as I'd hoped. It's almost enough to forgive the interminable load times and interstitials accompany navigation through the menus.

After reading the reviews and comments on Ars I was expecting this game to be mediocre at best. I was expecting tedious menus a la GT4. Poor AI. Ugly cars (standard). Tedious grinding. Poor car selection. Slow load times.

What did I get? A beautifully crafted game with flaws like shadows and spray effects. The menus are NOT a chore as Ars would have you believe. You are given different ways to exit menus. By default the back button takes you back one level. If you want to go all the way back to home the HOME button in the bottom left takes you there instantly. AI even at beginner level does NOT ignore me like GT4. The race menu layout resembles GT3 moreso than GT4's smogasboard throw everything at you on one screen layout.

Load times are not unusually long. Moving between menus does not have 5 second load times as some were saying. Damage is not unlocked but available from the start. Why in this article it is implied that you have to be a certain level to see certain levels of damage is beyond me.

I really am beginning to think persons reviewing this game only had one thing on their mind. Namely 5+ years of devlopment and ignored or brushed off the actual good aspects of the game cynically.

I really am beginning to think persons reviewing this game only had one thing on their mind. Namely 5+ years of devlopment and ignored or brushed off the actual good aspects of the game cynically.

This might have been valid if there were a number of commenters agreeing with the reviewer and other reviews around the net saying the same thing. Either way a review is one persons opinion. Read many and make your choice or do what the reviewer said. Rent. If you like it, you'll buy it.

After reading the reviews and comments on Ars I was expecting this game to be mediocre at best. I was expecting tedious menus a la GT4. Poor AI. Ugly cars (standard). Tedious grinding. Poor car selection. Slow load times.

What did I get? A beautifully crafted game with flaws like shadows and spray effects. The menus are NOT a chore as Ars would have you believe. You are given different ways to exit menus. By default the back button takes you back one level. If you want to go all the way back to home the HOME button in the bottom left takes you there instantly. AI even at beginner level does NOT ignore me like GT4. The race menu layout resembles GT3 moreso than GT4's smogasboard throw everything at you on one screen layout.

Load times are not unusually long. Moving between menus does not have 5 second load times as some were saying. Damage is not unlocked but available from the start. Why in this article it is implied that you have to be a certain level to see certain levels of damage is beyond me.

I really am beginning to think persons reviewing this game only had one thing on their mind. Namely 5+ years of devlopment and ignored or brushed off the actual good aspects of the game cynically.

/end rant.

GT5 is sublime. Will I be flamed for saying it's more than a rent?

Objectively, do you think that maybe your own expectations were tamped down enough such that you see mostly diamond where others see mostly rough?

I don't think you should be flamed for your opinion. You've presented it well and it appears to be justified.

Can we just admit GT5 is still in beta stages? The game wasn't finished (racing is great, but other things are kinda messed up). They had postponed the release, people cried, Sony said "LAWL, JK! THIS MONTH!", and now we're suffering through patches. In a few more months, GT5 will finally be here!

Can we just admit GT5 is still in beta stages? The game wasn't finished (racing is great, but other things are kinda messed up). They had postponed the release, people cried, Sony said "LAWL, JK! THIS MONTH!", and now we're suffering through patches. In a few more months, GT5 will finally be here!

After spending more time with GT5 I am warming to it more, mainly because I saved up the credits to buy a McLaren F1, which has proven to be every bit as much fun as I'd hoped. It's almost enough to forgive the interminable load times and interstitials accompany navigation through the menus.

That's kind of where I'm at - don't have the McLaren yet but: I still despise how there are a number of things that are tedious and should have been better - and were already better in other last-gen games. Yet the core racing is still fun. And I've still spent several hours per night on several nights on it. Its a love-hate relationship. Now, I'm waiting for the update that allows for earning credits for online races. You know, the feature that is stated in the actual game manual but doesn't exist yet.

After reading the reviews and comments on Ars I was expecting this game to be mediocre at best. I was expecting tedious menus a la GT4. Poor AI. Ugly cars (standard). Tedious grinding. Poor car selection. Slow load times.

What did I get? A beautifully crafted game with flaws like shadows and spray effects. The menus are NOT a chore as Ars would have you believe. You are given different ways to exit menus. By default the back button takes you back one level. If you want to go all the way back to home the HOME button in the bottom left takes you there instantly. AI even at beginner level does NOT ignore me like GT4. The race menu layout resembles GT3 moreso than GT4's smogasboard throw everything at you on one screen layout.

Load times are not unusually long. Moving between menus does not have 5 second load times as some were saying. Damage is not unlocked but available from the start. Why in this article it is implied that you have to be a certain level to see certain levels of damage is beyond me.

I really am beginning to think persons reviewing this game only had one thing on their mind. Namely 5+ years of devlopment and ignored or brushed off the actual good aspects of the game cynically.

/end rant.

GT5 is sublime. Will I be flamed for saying it's more than a rent?

Objectively, do you think that maybe your own expectations were tamped down enough such that you see mostly diamond where others see mostly rough?

I don't think you should be flamed for your opinion. You've presented it well and it appears to be justified.

Actually I had certain expectations about GT5 as the last GT I enjoyed was 3 while I hated 4 for the grinding and the GTworld layout, train procession AI, bonehead time penalties, shuddering screen. I was not going to buy GT5 with the same poor AI or no incentive to not bash persons online with my vehicle as these aspects ruined GT4 for me. There were other things I wanted and they are here. Heck I even got things I never thought about. I am glad they're here even though I didn't want them specifically and I appreciate that. The only real issue I have with the game are the shadows ( which seem to be a problem on PS3 games, even MGS4 has some strange shadows) and the spray effects.

On another note has anyone taken the time to listen to the music in this game? It really is something else.

The menus are NOT a chore as Ars would have you believe. Load times are not unusually long. Moving between menus does not have 5 second load times as some were saying.

I heartily disagree with you on these points.

Indeed. Load times to start a race are on the order of 30 seconds on my PS3. And don't get me started on the rigmarole you go through when you win a car.

I was expecting these long load times based on the reviews but this doesn't seem to be happening for me. The car deliver takes all of what 20 sec? maybe I'm different but this doesn't infuriate me as it does others.

To me GT5 feels more like a work of art for persons who really love cars more than it just being another racing game for PS3 in my opinion.

I feel spoiled by the ease of joining an online game/game type because of Modern Warfare 2. GT5 could have done things smoother.I feel spoiled by the menues/ease of navigation of my Macbook Pro. GT5 could have done things smoother.I feel spoiled by half a dozen other features found elsewhere in technology, that PD could have used/adapted for use in GT5, but they didnt. But at the end of the day, for all the things GT5 does wrong, the one important thing - RACING - GT5 does much better than anyone else.

Can we just admit GT5 is still in beta stages? The game wasn't finished (racing is great, but other things are kinda messed up). They had postponed the release, people cried, Sony said "LAWL, JK! THIS MONTH!", and now we're suffering through patches. In a few more months, GT5 will finally be here!

Exaggerate much? Beta? Seriously?

Question much? Honestly?

But seriously... the game wasn't finished. Sony didn't want any more delays. ??? (I know you like ? so I added that. >_>). Game is released.

I'm not saying beta as in completely unpolished title, but it's a very bare game right now. Great racing, the best even, but outside of that, it's lacking what others are not.

The menus are NOT a chore as Ars would have you believe. Load times are not unusually long. Moving between menus does not have 5 second load times as some were saying.

I heartily disagree with you on these points.

Indeed. Load times to start a race are on the order of 30 seconds on my PS3. And don't get me started on the rigmarole you go through when you win a car.

That one I can't get my head around. I wasn't sure if there was some reason I wouldn't want to redeem a car, since instead of getting the car, I get a coupon for the car. It's mindbogglingly stupid and pointless.

And I'm in the same boat with load times. Less than 2 month old PS3, game installed to the harddrive and there's definitely a long wait for the track to load. Not so bad when I'm up to the 10 minute long races rather than two or three short laps, but it's the first thing everyone notices when showing them the game. Plus I have that GT symbol burned into my retinas. It's not at every menu, but there seems to be layers of menus (basically whenever the "home" button shows up in the bottom left, you know there'll be a wait time going back to the main menu).

Can't wait to try out damage tonight though. Also never knew about the Eye thing, I'll have to try that out too (I haven't found any Move games worth actually playing yet, might as well give it some use).

The menus are NOT a chore as Ars would have you believe. Load times are not unusually long. Moving between menus does not have 5 second load times as some were saying.

I heartily disagree with you on these points.

Ok. Did you do the hdd installation?

Yes. Not EVERY load is 5 seconds but some are - and the rest are too frequent. Finished a race? Wait a second - here's your credits. Wait a second - here's your level. Wait five seconds - here's the race screen. Main menu? Wait some seconds. Garage? Some more seconds. Change your car? wait... My oil lights on! Back to main menu - wait... service - wait... oil change - wait... WATCH THE FUCKING ANIMATION - back to main menu - wait... ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?!?!?!

Can we just admit GT5 is still in beta stages? The game wasn't finished (racing is great, but other things are kinda messed up). They had postponed the release, people cried, Sony said "LAWL, JK! THIS MONTH!", and now we're suffering through patches. In a few more months, GT5 will finally be here!

Exaggerate much? Beta? Seriously?

Question much? Honestly?

But seriously... the game wasn't finished. Sony didn't want any more delays. ??? (I know you like ? so I added that. >_>). Game is released.

I'm not saying beta as in completely unpolished title, but it's a very bare game right now. Great racing, the best even, but outside of that, it's lacking what others are not.

The menus are NOT a chore as Ars would have you believe. Load times are not unusually long. Moving between menus does not have 5 second load times as some were saying.

I heartily disagree with you on these points.

Indeed. Load times to start a race are on the order of 30 seconds on my PS3. And don't get me started on the rigmarole you go through when you win a car.

I was expecting these long load times based on the reviews but this doesn't seem to be happening for me. The car deliver takes all of what 20 sec? maybe I'm different but this doesn't infuriate me as it does others.

Why should it take 20 seconds? Why do I need to go to the Car Delivery icon, press X, wait for the screen to load, select the card, press X, wait for the animation to show me the car, then press X, then wait to be asked if I want to drive it now, then press X, then finally go back to the home screen? Why can't it just put the fucking car in my garage like oh, every other game that works that way? You might like your time being wasted. I want to be racing.

In fact, I'm reminded of a quote from the Steve McQueen film, Le Mans: "Racing is living; everything else is just waiting." It seems PD took that way too much to heart.

The menus are NOT a chore as Ars would have you believe. Load times are not unusually long. Moving between menus does not have 5 second load times as some were saying.

I heartily disagree with you on these points.

Ok. Did you do the hdd installation?

Yes. Not EVERY load is 5 seconds but some are - and the rest are too frequent. Finished a race? Wait a second - here's your credits. Wait a second - here's your level. Wait five seconds - here's the race screen. Main menu? Wait some seconds. Garage? Some more seconds. Change your car? wait... My oil lights on! Back to main menu - wait... service - wait... oil change - wait... WATCH THE FUCKING ANIMATION - back to main menu - wait... ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?!?!?!

Lol breathe. Some how I find the load times in NFS:HP most frustrating than those for GT. It must be the soothe calming jazz music ^_^How come noone trashes NFS:HP for the load times there?

But at the end of the day, for all the things GT5 does wrong, the one important thing - RACING - GT5 does much better than anyone else.

On the PS3 maybe, but industry wide the reviews don't even seem to bare this out. I guess perspective matters, e.g. the gent who thinks the AI is very good. It may be very good compared to GT4 from 6 years ago. But GT4 was bad for back then and GT5, while a step forward, is definately not keeping pace with the pack. But as one of the Ars writers noted, there is a difference between a driving simulation and racing one, ditto driving/racing sim vs. game. As a racing game/simulator GT has a bit of work to do in regards to AI and damage for it to be so clear as to say, "GT5 does much better than anyone else" in RACING.

The menus are NOT a chore as Ars would have you believe. Load times are not unusually long. Moving between menus does not have 5 second load times as some were saying.

I heartily disagree with you on these points.

Indeed. Load times to start a race are on the order of 30 seconds on my PS3. And don't get me started on the rigmarole you go through when you win a car.

I was expecting these long load times based on the reviews but this doesn't seem to be happening for me. The car deliver takes all of what 20 sec? maybe I'm different but this doesn't infuriate me as it does others.

Why should it take 20 seconds? Why do I need to go to the Car Delivery icon, press X, wait for the screen to load, select the card, press X, wait for the animation to show me the car, then press X, then wait to be asked if I want to drive it now, then press X, then finally go back to the home screen? Why can't it just put the fucking car in my garage like oh, every other game that works that way? You might like your time being wasted. I want to be racing.

In fact, I'm reminded of a quote from the Steve McQueen film, Le Mans: "Racing is living; everything else is just waiting." It seems PD took that way too much to heart.

When it is typed out like that it does sound bad I agree. However ingame it is not. Pressing X is a problem? You know the menus by heart and press X almost unconsciously I'm sure. I know you're in a rush to race but some things are blown out of proportion.

But at the end of the day, for all the things GT5 does wrong, the one important thing - RACING - GT5 does much better than anyone else.

On the PS3 maybe, but industry wide the reviews don't even seem to bare this out. I guess perspective matters, e.g. the gent who thinks the AI is very good. It may be very good compared to GT4 from 6 years ago. But GT4 was bad for back then and GT5, while a step forward, is definately not keeping pace with the pack. But as one of the Ars writers noted, there is a difference between a driving simulation and racing one, ditto driving/racing sim vs. game. As a racing game/simulator GT has a bit of work to do in regards to AI and damage for it to be so clear as to say, "GT5 does much better than anyone else" in RACING.

What would you like the AI to do that it does not at Intermediate and Advanced races in GT5?

Why should it take 20 seconds? Why do I need to go to the Car Delivery icon, press X, wait for the screen to load, select the card, press X, wait for the animation to show me the car, then press X, then wait to be asked if I want to drive it now, then press X, then finally go back to the home screen? Why can't it just put the fucking car in my garage like oh, every other game that works that way? You might like your time being wasted. I want to be racing.

In fact, I'm reminded of a quote from the Steve McQueen film, Le Mans: "Racing is living; everything else is just waiting." It seems PD took that way too much to heart.

Car delivery is an annoyance, and tells me nothing about the car. I want to see the car, rotate it and look at it from all the sides, see the power stats and maybe the history of it. If it offered me those things it would be interesting. As it stands it's an extra unnecessary menu navigation that I'm trying to rush through resulting in me actually choosing to drive that car now and then having to go to my garage and get back to the car I was intending to drive.

On a lame, I would total love this feature... They should tie the vehicles into home space and their you can go walk around your garage and look at all your cars and have your friends over to as well. =)

I have to say that after spending two weeks with this game, I am getting more and more frustrated about the wait/load times between actual race action. During the first few days I didn't mind so much - it was a long weekend, bad weather, no other obligations and just the excitement of finally playing GT5. Back to a normal work-routine and perhaps an odd hour in the evening that I can actually spend on gaming, and GT5 does not seem like such a good choice anymore - certainly not if you all you want is some quick action and distraction before calling it a day...

Given the AI's poor behavior you really wouldn't want damage on GTLife or Arcade races. You'd never make it through the pack without damage. (and to be fair, Forza does this a bit as well when the drones all lunge for the line into the first corner)

It sounds like another feature that is incomplete and poorly executed. Unfortunately that speaks for far too much of GT5 overall.

For me GT5 is a disappointment, and I've already given up on it. I'll give my copy to a friend so that he doesn't need to buy it. Sorry, but I don't consider it worth the $60 price.

I quit playing at lvl 11. I just wasn't having fun and it felt like I was struggling through the game.

The menu system is inconsistent, sluggish, and haphazard.There are far too many cars that are not available new, only via the Used Lot.The Special Events and License Tests both lose appeal when paired with the horribly slow load times. It is no fun to wait 10-15 seconds...for a 15 second event.

The sluggishness and load lag are both embarassing on what is arguably the most powerful of the current generation platforms, especially with the game constantly flashing 'installing' and eating up almost 7Gb of disk.

It's a decent driving game hindered by layers of poor design and old ideas. IMO it's time for someone else to take the helm at PD and reinvent the series with a more current view and a stronger focus on overall player experience.